Impact of Alcoholism on Sleep Architecture and EEG Power Spectra in Men and Women SLEEP 2009;32(10):1341-1352.
To determine the impact of alcoholism on sleep architecture and sleep EEG power spectra in men and women with uncomplicated alcoholism.
Compared with controls, alcoholics had less slow wave sleep and increased proportions of stage 1 and REM sleep. Spectral analysis of NREM sleep showed reduced levels of slow wave activity (SWA, 0.3–4 Hz) and slow θ (theta) power (4–6 Hz) in alcoholics. The differences in SWA extended across the slow band (0.3–1 Hz) and all δ (delta) frequencies and were most prominent over frontal scalp regions. No group differences were seen in the power spectra of REM sleep. Women had more SWA and θ power than men, but there were no sex by diagnosis interactions for any measures, suggesting that alcoholism does not differentially influence men and women.
Long-term alcoholism affects sleep even after long periods of abstinence in both men and women. Measures of frontal slow wave activity were particularly sensitive markers of this long-lasting effect. Sleep EEG measures would thus seem to provide a functional correlate of the changes in brain structure seen in frontal cortex of long-term alcoholics.
Request Reprint E-Mail: :ian.colrain@sri.com
_____________________________________________________________
